What’s happening / being planned?

Watlington Relief Road is a proposed new road through Watlington parish and neighbouring Pyrton parish in South Oxfordshire. The County Council had planned to fund the construction project using money from the Oxfordshire Housing & Growth Deal and S106 contributions from developers. However, the project lost a portion of the growth deal funds in early 2024. Funding will be evaluated as part of Oxfordshire County Council’s business planning and capital budgeting process, with a decision expected in February 2025.

The relief road is intended to form part of a new, more attractive strategic route for long distance traffic from the west going to and from the M40, including for HGVs and LGVs. It is expected to ease issues of congestion, noise and air quality in the village but increase traffic along the route.  Bus services would continue to serve Watlington high street.

Land for a bypass at Watlington is safeguarded for a “strategic” transport scheme in the current South Oxfordshire Local Plan, justified by the strategic allocation for 3000 houses at Chalgrove Airfield. This is now proposed to be deallocated from the next local plan. Some sections of the route would take traffic through new housing estates, and would be built by house developers. These have planning permission for access roads and are not dependent on the county council completing a relief road. To build its sections, the Council requires more housing development (to that already approved). 

The scheme would include the construction of 1.4km of road, two roundabouts, a school coach drop off and a new crossing of the Chalgrove Brook, chalk stream.